Everyone will benefit with immigration reform (II)

by Donna Poisl



Some towns are making it uncomfortable for immigrants to live in them, so the immigrants move and take their labor and buying power with them. Then when these towns want to create new businesses, to replace the ones that closed when all these workers left, they don't have an available work force. It is definitely a vicious cycle.

People who complain about these low skilled and low wage workers insist they have brought wages down for the rest of us, but this is not the main cause of low wages. U.S. companies have to be competitive to get and keep business. Prices of products and services have to be low or customers go overseas to fill their orders. The only way U.S. companies can compete for the business is if they use low wage workers here or outsource the work to other countries.

Look at all the U.S. companies that are using customer service, technical support and data entry workers in India and the Philippines and Mexico. Those workers are higher skilled and still make much less than comparable workers here. People complain about the work going overseas but would not accept higher prices to pay for the work to be done here. They have to understand that they can't have it both ways.

We are all better off when these companies use low wage workers here than we would be if they go off shore to get the workers. We are certainly better off than if they had to close. Every job that is kept here, even if it is a lower wage job, creates more jobs. A manufacturing job creates 3 or more additional jobs in our economy, service jobs create at lease one more. The workers are spending their paychecks to feed, clothe and shelter their families. They are buying things and helping to keep factories, stores and restaurants open. And don't forget, they are paying taxes.

Almost all people working illegally pay taxes. Some file income taxes using Tax ID numbers and many more are using false Social Security numbers. This means the taxes they are paying are going into the system but will never go back to those workers when they retire or are disabled. Even the people using Tax ID numbers won't collect that money when they retire.

If fewer people pay taxes, everyone else will have to pay more taxes to keep the country and military operating. This alone should be a good reason for everyone to want more workers in this country.

At the beginning of this column, I listed several areas in which we will all benefit when there is immigration reform which would legalize the millions of people living here illegally; the military, Social Security, our economy, our future economy, education and national security. This column only talked about our economy, tomorrow's will continue with the others.


About the Author
Donna Poisl is the author of "How to Live & Thrive in the U.S. / Como Vivir y Prosperar en Estados Unidos" and President of Live & Thrive Press. She wrote this reference guide to help immigrants learn our system and succeed in this country. Contact Donna at http://www.howtoliveandthrive.com or Immigrants in USA Blog at http://immigrantsinusa.blogspot.com